The Spirit of '76 is a patriotic sentiment typified by the
zeitgeist
In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history.
Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...
surrounding the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
.
It refers to the attitude of
self-determination
The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
and individual
liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
made manifest in the
U.S. Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House (l ...
.
Meaning
The Spirit of '76 is a sentiment explored by
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
. According to the text published at
Monticello
Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...
, "The principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence promised to lead America—and other nations on the globe—into a new era of freedom. The revolution begun by Americans on July 4, 1776, would never end. It would inspire all peoples living under the burden of oppression and ignorance to open their eyes to the rights of mankind, to overturn the power of tyrants, and to declare the triumph of equality over inequality."
![Reproduction-of-the-1805-Rembrandt-Peale-painting-of-Thomas-Jefferson-New-York-Historical-Society 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Reproduction-of-the-1805-Rembrandt-Peale-painting-of-Thomas-Jefferson-New-York-Historical-Society_1.jpg)
Thomas Jewett wrote that at the time of the American Revolution, there was "an intangible something that is known as the 'Spirit of '76.' This spirit was personified by the beliefs and actions of that almost mythical group known as the
Founding Fathers
The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
, and is perhaps best exemplified by Thomas Jefferson."
Jefferson and the
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
believed the Spirit of '76 "included the 'self-evident' truths of being 'created equal' and being 'endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights' including 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'"
According to the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', in a review of ''What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson,
John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...
, and the Epic Struggle to Create a United States'':
Jefferson's core conviction was that what might be called "the spirit of '76" had repudiated all energetic expressions of government power, most especially power exercised from faraway places, which included London, Philadelphia or Washington. In terms of domestic policy, he believed the states were sovereign and the federal government established by the Constitution was, as he put it, 'a foreign government.' Marshall's core conviction was that the spirit of '87 had trumped the spirit of '76, transforming the loose confederation of states into a coherent nation guided by a duly elected federal government empowered to make laws for all the American people.
According to the
Adam Smith Institute
The Adam Smith Institute (ASI) is a neoliberal UK-based think tank and lobbying group, named after Adam Smith, a Scottish moral philosopher and classical economist. The libertarian label was officially changed to neoliberal on 10 October 201 ...
, "The spirit of '76 was animated by the desire for personal freedom, both in our relations with others and in our transactions with them... Ultimately, if Americans are to restore
constitutionally limited government
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
instituted to guarantee their personal liberty, then they must revive the Spirit of '76."
[
]
Usage
In an 1806 court case, a Philadelphia judge wrote in his opinion: "General and individual liberty was the spirit of '76."
''The Spirit of '76'' is a well-known painting by the Ohio artist and Union Civil War veteran Archibald Willard
Archibald MacNeal Willard (August 22, 1836 – October 11, 1918) was an American painter who was born and raised in Bedford, Ohio. He was the son of Samuel Willard, the pastor of Bedford Baptist Church.
Willard had an interest in art ever since ...
. The painting, originally titled ''Yankee Doodle'', was created in 1875 for the Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...
. The piece acquired the name "Spirit of 76" while it was on tour in Boston. The painting was initially commissioned to be "semi-humorous," but the death of Willard's father, the model for one of the painting's figures, changed the direction of its tone. It depicts three soldiers of the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. Though one of them is wounded, the soldiers march on with spirit and determination. The painting is on display at Abbot Hall in Marblehead, Massachusetts
Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends ...
.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...
wrote of the spirit of '76 in reference to traveling to Philadelphia to celebrate the Centennial Exposition in 1876.
In 1843, the historian Mellen Chamberlain
Mellen Chamberlain (4 June 1821, Pembroke, New Hampshire - 25 June 1900, Chelsea, Massachusetts) was a United States lawyer, librarian and historian. He was librarian of the Boston Public Library for over a decade.
Biography
He graduated fro ...
wrote that the spirit of '76 was embodied by Levi Preston, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. Chamberlain asked Preston, then aged 91, "Why did you go to the Concord Fight, the 19th of April, 1775? My histories tell me that you men took up arms against 'intolerable oppression.'" Preston responded:
Oppressions? I didn't feel them. I never saw one of those stamps, and always understood that Governor Bernard put them all in Castle William
Fort Independence is a granite bastion fort that provided harbor defenses for Boston, Massachusetts. Located on Castle Island (Massachusetts), Castle Island, Fort Independence is one of the oldest continuously fortified sites of England, English ...
. I am certain I never paid a penny for one of them. Tea tax! I never drank a drop of the stuff; the boys threw it all overboard. We read only the Bible, the Catechism, Watt's Psalms and Hymns, and the Almanack. Young man, what we meant in going for those redcoats was this: we always had governed ourselves, and we always meant to. They didn't mean we should.
In an 1899 speech, ''Liberty'', Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...
remarked: "Manifestly, the spirit of '76 still survives. The fires of liberty and noble aspirations are not yet extinguished."
According to the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, a 1915 postcard titled "Did I Save My Country for This!" "Calls forth the spirit of 1776 to support women's rights—particularly the right to vote. While women march for suffrage rights, George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
is shown exclaiming, "Did I save my country for this!"
L. Lloyd MacDonald wrote that "in 1776, a small group of thoughtful but defiant men gave new meaning to the definition of independence. Its embryo–a vibrant spirit of heart and mind known to many as 'the Spirit of '76."
Ira Moore delivered a speech at Oxford in 1822 titled ''American Independence.'' In the speech's postscript, he wrote that the speech "was written, principally, for an audience of intelligent, Republican farmers. Its object is what ought to be the object of all Fourth of July orations, to inculcate the republican principles, and to cherish the patriotic spirit of '76, and not the party spirit of 1814, which brought our country to the verge of destruction."
John Patrick Diggins
John Patrick Diggins (April 1, 1935 – January 28, 2009) was an American professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, Princeton University, and the City University of New York Graduate Center.
He was the author/editor of more ...
wrote that after John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
"went from being a revolutionary optimist to a constitutional pessimist, one who believed that liberty required controls and that the people needed to be protected, even from themselves...he came to be regarded as less than loyal to the 'Spirit of '76' and the very meaning of a republic."
Diggins also wrote that Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
"took the Declaration, which Jefferson regarded as a scientific document, interpreted it as a sacred text, and in the process of doing so he sacralized the whole meaning of the Spirit of '76." Further, "It was Lincoln's deepest conviction that the ideological significance of the American Revolution expressed itself in the Declaration and that the Spirit of '76
endowed America with its meaning and purpose in human history."
In 2009, John P. Resch authored ''Suffering Soldiers: Revolutionary War Veterans, Moral Sentiment, and Political Culture in the Early Republic'', in which he wrote... "Veterans, particularly regular troops, became the principal symbols of the spirit of '76 and models of national character."
The spirit of '76, along with Custer's Last Stand
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nort ...
and the Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...
, has been noted as representing "moral and spiritual meaning that can motivate individuals and societies."
In a 2001 book titled ''Harmonizing Sentiments: The Declaration of Independence and the Jeffersonian Idea of Self-Government'', Hans L. Eicholz wrote... "The spirit of '76 has been lost—and with it so much else."
In 2011, academic Daren Jonescu argued that "The Tea Party
A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...
represents the modern incarnation of the Spirit of 1776." Other commentators have tied modern manifestations of the Spirit of 1776 to conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
sentiment.
Ron Grossman, writing for the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'', opined that the spirit of '76 is often lost in the fanfare over the Fourth of July
Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...
, noting that "historians and descendants of the first American citizens wonder if modern celebrations--from food fests and rock concerts to fishing tournaments and car rallies--are missing the point."
In a 2013 column titled ''Americans Still Embrace the Spirit of '76'', Scott Rasmussen
Scott William Rasmussen (born March 30, 1956) is an American public opinion pollster and political analyst. He previously produced the ScottRasmussen.com Daily Tracking Poll, a gauge of American voters' political sentiment. He is editor-at-large ...
, a frequent guest on Fox News and other outlets, where he usually supports Republican talking points wrote: "We believe that we have the right to make our own decisions about our own lives, so long as they don't infringe on the rights of others. We use our freedom to solve problems by working together in communities. This attitude was described by Thomas Jefferson and others as "the Spirit of '76." It continues to create problems for political elites today because 63 percent think there is more danger with a government that is too powerful than with one that is not powerful enough."
See also
* Commemoration of the American Revolution
Commemoration of the American Revolution typifies the patriotic sentiment surrounding the American Revolution and the desire to preserve and honor the " Spirit of '76". As the founding story of the United States, it is covered in the schools, memo ...
* Timeline of the American Revolution
Timeline of the American Revolution — timeline of the political upheaval culminating in the 18th century in which Thirteen Colonies in North America joined together for independence from the British Empire, and after victory in the Revolutiona ...
References
{{American Revolutionary War
American nationalism
Political terminology of the United States
Patriotism
American Revolution